


keep up with me

by wvlfqveen



Series: chairman meow the matchmaker [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, F/F, chairman meow the meddler returns, flustered izzy is my favorite izzy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:43:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9947057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wvlfqveen/pseuds/wvlfqveen
Summary: Izzy is cat-sitting when someone completely unexpected turns up at Magnus' door.





	

**Author's Note:**

> uuuuuuuuuhm the response to my malec piece was amazing!!!!! you guys truly made me so happy !!
> 
> so this was a delight to write even tho my girls see no Action TM. i hope you guys enjoy it and give it as much as love as you gave to my boys!!! support femslash 2k17
> 
> as always let me know what you thought in the comments and leave kudos if you'd like. xoxoxo

“I can’t believe I’m doing this for you.”

“I know.”

“I’m such a great friend.”

“I’m well aware.”

“You owe me so hard.”

“Isabelle Lightwood,” Magnus said, rolling his eyes. “I thank you for your sacrifice. Now please sit down. Chairman Meow is getting annoyed.”

Izzy looked at the cat. He was sitting on the couch, looking at Izzy balefully.

She scowled, but sat beside the cat anyway. “He has no right to get annoyed. I’m here, on a Saturday night, because of his ass.”

Chairman Meow had escaped one day while Magnus and Alec were uh...occupied, and almost gotten run over by a car. He had run back home, upset, and he refused to stay alone in the house unless someone he knew, like Izzy or Jace, were with him.

Jace, the smart bastard, had bailed with the flimsy excuse of a date (Izzy was 400% sure he was lying) so Izzy was the only one that could look after him while Magnus and her brother could go on a date for their 6-month anniversary. 

She couldn’t believe it had been six months already. She sighed.

“Fine. Go on your date. Tell my brother to unclench and have fun.”

Magnus smiled. “Thanks, Izzy. Love you.” He kissed her on the forehead and left in a whirl of expensive cologne and glitter, a Magnus staple for going out.

She turned to look at the cat once the door closed. He blinked up at her and draped himself on her lap. 

“Now what am I going to do with you, Mr. Chairman?”

*

It turned out Chairman Meow was  _ boring  _ when Magnus wasn’t around. He only sniffed around a bit before falling asleep beside Izzy and there was nothing on TV. She could always study but she did not feel up to it, and there was only so much she could comment on the pictures Magnus had already posted on Instagram. 

She sighed, giving in, and opened Instagram again. Meliorn had posted a selfie with Jace from their favorite bar, Maia giving Jace bunny ears from her place behind the counter.

She liked it, and commented a “oh, i see how it is” before scrolling down. It wasn’t long before she ended up back on Magnus’ picture again, a cute shot of Alec smiling (smiling!) down at their linked hands with the caption “Celebrating the happiest 6 months of my life”.

They were so disgustingly cute it made Izzy’s teeth hurt. 

She went to scroll past it when her eyes fell on a new comment. She clicked to see the full interaction.

brooklynred:  _ you guys are so cute!! Can’t believe i havent met him yet :0 we need to fix that xx _

fashionbane:  _ thanks clary :* and yes we do!! Dm me! _

Clary?

Brooklyn  _ red? _

As in….

She clicked on “brooklynred” and almost dropped her phone when the profile loaded.

It was Clary Fairchild, the red-haired girl from one of her anatomy classes.

Izzy’s cheeks reddened. Everyone, from her brother to Meliorn, knew of her infatuation with Clary. She had never talked to her, but she couldn’t help how her eyes were drawn to her every time she walked into their classroom, even on test days with her hair in a haphazard bun held by pencils and her paint-splattered jeans. They sat on opposite sides of the room, and Clary was always picked up by a dark-haired boy with glasses Izzy had heard her call “Simon” so Izzy had never worked up the courage to approach her. At first she thought Clary and Simon were dating but one day she had heard them -it just  _ happened _ okay, she had NOT been eavesdropping- joke around and Simon had called her a “massive lesbian”. 

The relief that had filled her at those words had been indescribable. 

A knock startled her out of her thoughts and her instagram stalking. Chairman Meow raised his head curiously. 

She got up to look through the peephole and nearly screamed.

It was Clary.

Clary Fairchild.

She put her back on the door and stared at Chairman Meow, wide-eyed. The cat approached her and headbutted her shin as if to say “stop freaking out and open it”. 

Oh God, she was turning into Magnus, fully believing the cat was telling her things. 

She took a deep breath and opened the door. Clary had one hand raised, knuckles poised to knock again, but she dropped it slowly, staring at Izzy with her stunning green eyes.

“Hello,” Izzy said. Her voice thankfully did not betray her.

“Uh, hi,” Clary said, smiling. “Magnus did not tell me you were cat-sitting.”

_ Magnus Bane, you are so dead.  _ “Chairman Meow loves me,” Izzy said simply. She turned to look back at the cat.

And he was not there.

“Wait. Where did he go?”

Clary looked past her into the apartment. “Maybe he hid? He tends to do that.”

“Chairman Meow?,” Izzy called out. 

There was no response of any kind; no noise or movement. Dread filled her. 

She opened the door wider to look down the hall and - there.

“Chairman!,” she called. The asshole cat was by the corner of the hallway, walking away from her. He paused to look back at her, then took off with a meow that seriously sounded like a taunt.

“Fuck’s sake,” Izzy muttered and shut the door before taking off after him. Clary followed. 

“Doesn’t he do that a lot?,” Clary questioned as they ran. Chairman Meow had already disappeared behind the staircase door. Izzy pushed through it.

“Yeah but he nearly  _ died  _ last time he did that so Magnus will flay me alive if he finds out he just slipped past me like that,” Izzy explained. 

“We’ll find him,” Clary promised. She didn’t even sound out of breath which Izzy admired. She liked people who could keep up with her.

In all aspects of life.

Like the bedroom.

She shook her head to clear it and went into the floor below them. Chairman Meow was sniffing something on the carpet by the elevator. He looked up at their entrance. Clary stopped her with a hand on her wrist. Electricity shot up her arm.

“Hold on,” she said, voice quiet. “Hey, Chairman,” Clary said, dropping into a crouch. “Come to Aunt Clary, okay? Let’s go home.”

Chairman Meow stared at Clary and then, to Izzy’s immense surprise, walked right into her arms and rubbed himself against her torso. 

“You’re such a great cat,” Clary said, picking him up. He purred in satisfaction and practically buried himself in the cradle of her arms.

Izzy stared at the picture they made. Clary smiled. 

“Are you the cat whisperer?,” Izzy blurted out. Clary laughed. Izzy’s cheeks warmed.

“Maybe,” Clary said. “Come on, let’s go back.”

They walked to Magnus and Alec’s floor in silence and got into the apartment, Chairman Meow refusing to get out of his Clary-Cradle. Izzy locked the door behind her and flopped down on the couch. Clary followed, settling Chairman Meow into her lap. 

“Thanks for your help,” Izzy said. “I would still be running after him if you hadn’t been here.”

Clary smiled. “No problem. I like him. He’s like the feline version of Magnus.”

“Stubborn, sly, and obsessed with glitter?”

Clary laughed. It was quickly turning into Izzy’s favorite sound.

“Pretty much,” Clary agreed.

“So, what are you actually here for?”

“Oh!,” Clary exclaimed, reaching for her backpack. She took it off her back and laid it on the floor, unzipping it and pulling out a book. “This is Magnus’. I needed it for one of my projects. I messaged him about bringing it back because I’m working the rest of the week and I wouldn’t have time to drop by and he said I could since someone was cat-sitting.”

She accepted it from her. It was a fashion design book, one of the thousands Magnus owned. 

She put it on the table. “Where do you work?”

“I work part-time at _Java Jones_. Do you know it? It’s not far from here.”

“Oh yeah! I’ve never seen you work there, though.” 

She would have definitely noticed.

“I just started actually. I used to work there during high school but I did some other jobs last year before coming back to it. It’s like a second home to me."

“That’s the lab for me. It feels like I’m always there.”

“What are you studying?,” Clary asked. 

“I’m going to be a forensic scientist.”

“Wow,” Clary said, voice sincere. “That’s amazing.”

Izzy smiled. “Most people say things like “Wow, really? You, a forensic scientist?””

Clary frowned. Izzy’s insides felt shaky. 

“Why? Because you look like you could be a model instead?,” she questioned, her cheeks colouring. “There is no correlation,” she continued, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Izzy tilted her head. “You think I could be a model?”

Clary gave her a disdainful look that could rival Alec’s but her cheeks did not lose their colour. “Uh,” she laughed nervously “have you seen  _ you _ ?”

Izzy grinned. 

It was time to unleash her full power.

Seize the day and all that.

“Yeah,” she said, sliding closer to Clary on the couch. Clary’s eyes followed the line of her body. “But I’ve also seen  _ you _ .”

Clary’s eyes snapped up to her face. “Huh?”

Izzy’s cheeks warmed. So much for seizing the day.

She cleared her throat and pushed her hair behind her shoulder. “Well, uh, every time you walk into the classroom my brain just kind of freezes for a second.”

Clary’s mouth dropped open.

Izzy’s mouth clicked shut.

They stared at each other for a while and then Clary blinked rapidly and inhaled.

“And here I almost did not take that class for my science requirement,” she admitted.

Izzy stared at her. Clary bit her lip.

“I thought I was imagining things,” she continued, laughing self-deprecatingly. “I mean, look at you. I’ve never seen a more out-of-my-league girl in my entire life.”

“I thought you and Simon were dating,” Izzy blurted out. “You have no idea how happy I was when I heard him call you “a massive lesbian”.”

Clary laughed again, a short, surprised sound, and covered her mouth. “You really heard that?”

“Sorry. I’m being creepy, aren’t I?”

“No, no,” Clary said, touching her arm, “not at all.” She did not remove her hand. “But why…”

Izzy covered Clary’s hand with hers. “Why what?”

Clary looked down at their hands. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Izzy said. “I admit I’ve never gotten tongue-tied around people I’m attracted to before.” 

“I bet,” Clary deadpanned.

“Why didn’t  _ you  _ say anything?,” Izzy questioned. Clary stared at her.

“Out of my league, remember? You look like a goddess and I couldn’t even be bothered to tame my hair most days.”

“I like your hair,” Izzy reassured. “It’s what drew my attention in the first place.”

Clary smiled, a small but true smile that lit up her whole face and made her eyes shine. “Really?”

Izzy had forgotten what she'd said. “Huh?”

Clary looked amused. “Izzy?”

Izzy snapped out of it with an inhale. “Do you want to maybe go on a date with me?,” she blurted out.

Clary stared at her, a little shocked. Then she started laughing.

And didn’t stop.

Izzy blinked. Clary was full-on giggling, her face bright red. Even Chairman Meow had lifted his head from his perch on the armrest to stare at the girl.

“Sorry,” she breathed finally, getting herself under control. “It’s just,” she wheezed. “I expected you to be smoother than this.”

Izzy pursed her lips. “Is that a no?”

Clary’s widened immediately. “No, no,” she protested, reaching out to grab her hand. “I’d love to go on a date with you. It’s just,” her lips twitched here as if she couldn’t help herself. “Goddess-like Isabelle Lightwood gets flustered around me. It’s cute, and more than a little gratifying.” 

“You make me feel like all the butterflies in my stomach are trying to escape through my mouth when I talk to you,” Izzy admitted. Clary’s cheeks reddened.

“Oh, my God,” she whined. “How can I ever top that?"

“Don’t worry,” Izzy said, patting her thigh. “You can top other things.”

Clary stared at her for a long, silent moment.

“Clary?”

Clary’s answer was only a wheeze.

*

Magnus and Alec came home a couple of hours later, hand in hand and smiling. Chairman Meow immediately made for Magnus, who picked him up and scratched his chin. 

“How’s my baby?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Izzy said, getting up to greet the couple. Alec snorted. 

Magnus set Chairman Meow down and nudged him in the direction of the armchair, his favorite spot. “You know I love you, Iz.”

“Uh-huh,” Izzy hummed. She hugged her brother first, then Magnus. 

He let go after a moment to kick his shoes off and flop on his couch. “Did anything interesting happen while we were gone?”

Izzy grinned, the new phone number in her phone contacts and the promise of a date buzzing through her mind. 

“Nope," Izzy said simply, ignoring Magnus' knowing look in favour of flouncing out of the apartment, a skip in her step.

Chairman Meow purred from his seat.


End file.
